


A flower a year makes the birthday for my dear

by mariabutnothill



Series: Life is good with you around [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel Deserves Better (Supernatural), Castiel Deserves to be Happy (Supernatural), Castiel Deserves to be Loved (Supernatural), Castiel Wants Dean Winchester to be Happy, Dean Winchester Deserves Better, Dean Winchester Deserves Nice Things, Dean Winchester Deserves to be Happy, DeanCas - Freeform, Destiel - Freeform, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28953546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariabutnothill/pseuds/mariabutnothill
Summary: It's Dean's birthday and Cas has a surprise for him. But of course, this is Cas, and he does it his way: the cheesy, diabetes indulging way.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy & Sam Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: Life is good with you around [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123673
Kudos: 17





	A flower a year makes the birthday for my dear

**Author's Note:**

> It's 1 AM where I live and I'm posting this. My ass is also freezing, so I'm really praying this is worth it.  
> Also, there's a guest who left a comment in the first part of this series (yes it now is a series), I think their name was Zaris, and idk if they'll read this but I want them to know that I'm actually working on an Adamichael one-shot of this series.  
> Alright, enjoy!  
> And happy motherfucking birthday to Dean Winchester!!

“Dean…”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s literally… damnit, Cas, it’s seven o’clock, come back.” Dean reaches out, trying to find Cas’s body to keep the bed —and himself— warm. Cas chuckles and plants a kiss on his forehead. Instead of going back to bed, though, he simply kisses him sweetly on the lips and turns around to find something to put on, eventually finding his pajama pants in a corner of Dean’s room —their room.

He turns around, finding Dean all sleepy, his hair a mess, the blankets covering all of his body because they fell asleep before putting their clothes back on and it’s really cold. Damn, how long has he wished for this? He slips away through the door before he can convince himself to go back to bed with Dean and makes his way to the bathroom.

“Dad!” Jack calls, rubbing his eyes, clutching the stuffed Scooby-Doo that Eileen got him for Christmas, a big smile across his face.

Shit. Did Cas forget to mention that he is now regressing? After Meg, Crowley, and Amara took all control over the universe, Jack began turning back his age. It started small, really, just a year at first once he realized that the world was now a safe place —as safe as it could be for a hunter, anyway—. But now, a couple of weeks later, he has taken the form of a ten-year-old, and he couldn’t be happier; instead of going all the way back to three years, he decided to stay like that, not wanting to add to their responsibilities now that Cas was setting up his Hunter’s School and Dean was finishing paperwork for the home he wanted to take, this without talking about Eileen and Sam’s child coming by the end of August.

“Kiddo, did you sleep well?” he asks, crouching down so he can hug him. Jack nods on his shoulder, then steps back.

“Are we still doing tomorrow’s plans for daddy’s birthday?” he asks in a whisper, and Cas just has to ruffle his bright hair before answering.

“Yes, we are. Is your uncle Sam up yet?” Jack nods, having heard Sam coming back from his morning jog a few minutes earlier. “Why don’t you go help him while I wake up daddy, huh?” the kid nods and runs all the way to the kitchen, where Sam greets him.

Cas sighs and resumes his way to the bathroom. Seriously, why are there almost a hundred rooms in this place and only one ungodly bathroom? They need to change that, add at least four more so the kids can use it better.

He smiles. His kids or just the kids of the school and the housing?

A few minutes later, he returns to find Dean still in bed, a lazy arm over his eyes, the blankets now resting on his waist, allowing Cas to see the tattoos, specifically the handprint tattoo he now has. He can’t resist it and walks over to caress it, they have come a long way since the day he rescued Dean from hell.

Dean shivers visibly under his cold hands, then groans.

“Come back to bed.” He tries to take Cas’s wrist, but he moves out of his reach with a chuckle.

“Nope,” he’s being childish and he knows it, but he wants Dean up and distracted to keep on with his plans, “c’mon, Jack wants to see his dad.” This has him up instantly, as if the sheets burned him in contact. He puts on his pants and a sweatshirt and waits for Cas to grab something warm for his top side, then grabs his hand and they walk towards the kitchen.

There, Sam and Eileen make breakfast while a happy Jack and a laughing Claire sit at the table.

“We didn’t do anything!” Claire says, raising up her hands, still giggling. Jack follows suit. “It’s not our fault Eileen left the fruit over here.” Jack turns to his parents and smiles through a red mouth, with liquid dripping down his tiny chin. Claire tries to wipe it but the stain stays on his face.

“Can any of you go buy more fruit? Cas?” Cas nods and raises a hand to stop Dean from talking.

“I’ll go, you help your brother. Don’t worry.” He smiles slightly and Dean nods not so sure. They kiss chastely before Cas returns to their bedroom to change his clothes. There, he takes his phone out and messages Adam.

_Meet me soon there. Be there in less than 10. Thanks._

He quickly changes into something warm, taking the trench coat that Amara gave him —she’s now down on Earth making herself known as a fashion designer alongside Meg and Crowley, they’re so damn famous Cas forgets he knows them sometimes— and a pair of simple boots to complete his casual style.

He rushes to the kitchen, where Dean kisses him one more time and gives him the keys to Baby, and then practically runs to the car, making his way downtown as fast as it’s permitted.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur, to be honest. He meets with Adam and he arranges Cas the things he needs, since he now sells it alongside Michael, then goes back with the berries, has breakfast, and kisses Dean a few more times. Then, Sam drags Dean to find a ring for Eileen and the rest stays behind. Cas bribes both Jack and Claire into helping him —to be honest, he didn’t need to, but that’s not something they both were willing to share since he bought them all the junk food they wanted and the projection room for themselves for a week— while Eileen accepts willingly.

Dean calls a couple of times to talk with Cas and reveals that Sam has now taken him to buy more clothes because _really, Dean? Flannels aren’t everything that exist and I hope you realize that._

A few hours later, probably by four in the afternoon, they’re done and exhausted, and Cas has to hide everything before the brothers come back. _It’ll end up there, anyway, might as well put it there_ , he thinks as he stuffs everything away. He has a perfect surprise and he can’t risk ruining it.

Dean walks through the door with Sam, their arms full of bags, as Cas comes back from putting everything away in the most obvious place. Dean lets the bigger bags down without any care, which earns him a scolding from Sam and then sets the smaller bags on top of the table more carefully.

Dean and Cas are on duty for tonight’s dinner, and they make that lasagna Dean saw on the internet a couple of months before that he so wanted to try. In the end, they both agree that it could’ve been better, but it’s still good.

By midnight, after Dean falls asleep exhausted from both the day and the sex, Cas carefully whispers a sleeping spell on Dean’s ear to prevent him from waking up while he and Sam bake his birthday cake and a ton of pies. Soon enough, Claire chimes in headphones on while listening to Taylor Swift, and stays there to help them. Jack walks in after they’re done with the dough and are letting it rest, and helps them with the cake. Eileen comes in too, but she falls asleep when Cas puts the cakes in the oven and Sam takes her back to bed.

It’s weird, working silently even if they know that Dean can’t wake up, but they do it without much trouble, talking in signs and keeping the radio that sits in the corner of the kitchen at a relatively low sound.

They finish everything up by three in the morning. Jack fell asleep after Cas put the cherry pie in the oven, and Claire is now yawning uncontrollably. Sam looks tired too, but stays to help Cas clean everything up. They say their goodbyes before returning to Eileen, and Cas tiredly closes the door behind him. Dean is still fast asleep, and remains that way after Cas slips back in the bed carefully, the spell still working.

Dean wakes up to an empty bed. _What the hell?_

It’s cold, colder than other days, and that is explained by the lack of Cas. Did he lose him again? No, that can’t be. Just as he’s about to get up and run to find his lover, he feels something in the place where Cas should be, _is this some kind of twisted joke?_

It’s a flower. Well, various flowers. They’re of a rich shade of purple and they’re still on the branch as if it has only been cut for seconds. Attached to it it’s a small rectangle, something Dean recognizes as Cas’s parchment for his bullet journals. The delicate calligraphy is unmistakably his.

_Aconite (Monkshood):_

_Hatred. Cautiousness. Misanthropy._

If Dean has to Google what the last thing is he won’t tell anyone. But what is that for? He didn’t know there were flowers that meant hatred or such.

He sits up, rubbing his eyes. The flower is beautiful, he won’t lie, but it’s confusing as hell.

There, attached to the door, is another flower. He puts his pajama pants on and grabs the flower that sits on the bed, then walks up to the next flower. It’s a string of purple flowers, and they’re hanging by a thread that unites them with another card.

“What are you playing, Cas?” Dean mutters, taking the card.

_Gladiolus:_

_Strength. Strength of character. Honor. Conviction. Comes from the Latin “Gladius” which means “Sword”._

Dean frows, now he’s seriously confused.

He opens the door and looks around, the bunker strangely calm at this hour. He looks back into the room and notices it’s past eight, Sam and Jack should be bickering in the kitchen right now. When he looks down, he finds another branch of flowers. This one he knows, and he doesn’t have to look at the card to know what it means. He smiles but reads it anyway.

_Heather (white):_

_Protection. Luck._

_(You might want to go to the bathroom first.)_

Dean does as he’s told, realizing now that his bladder is full. After doing his routine more excitedly than ever, he searches the room for more flowers. And he sees another when he puts the toilet seat down. He laughs as he scans the yellow rose and the other tiny one on his hands, maybe this is Eileen tricking him into putting the toilet seat down.

_Rose (yellow):_

_Friendship. Intense emotion. Apology._

_Sainfoin:_

_You confuse me._

Dean gets out of the bathroom, still looking for more flowers. Just as he’s about to turn to make his way to the kitchen, Eileen walks out of her and Sam’s room with another flower. It’s a white, open one, with yellow thingys —he never really cared enough about Biology to learn how they’re called— in the middle. She walks past him after she gently pushes it against his chest and makes her way to the kitchen.

_Rainflower:_

_I must atone for my sins. I won’t forget you._

Dean furrows his brow, what is this for anyway? He has to question Cas. He follows Eileen to the kitchen, only to find it empty, but now there are two flowers on top of the counter. One is a rose in a pretty shade of violet, and another one that seems violent to him, with pink petals and a big, white center.

_Protea:_

_Change. Transformation. Courage._

_Rose (violet):_

_Enchantment. Love at first sight._

Dean’s smile can’t be bigger right now. He still has no idea of what is going on, but he’s sure as hell he’ll be going down with the whole thing.

He hears a knock on the door of the kitchen and he runs towards it as fast as he can to catch Cas putting it on, but he’s instead greeted with no one there and another flower taped to the door. This time there’s a few branches of a small flower.

_Clovenlip Toadflax:_

_Notice my love for you._

If he started crying right now he will deny it in the future.

Further in his line of vision is another flower on top of the coffee table. He runs to it and desperately reads it, wanting to know what all of this is about. His heart is racing out of happiness, he never got this many flowers, let alone a single one. It’s sad, that’s sure, but Dean doesn’t care anymore, because now he has eleven if he counts the tiny dandelions on his hands.

_Dandelion:_

_Overcoming hardship. Emotional healing._

_(You should probably put your shoes on right now, the floor is cold.)_

Dean returns to the bedroom more eager to put his shoes on than ever. He feels like a child doing a treasure hunt, except it’s all on his own, he’s turning 42, and his fiancé is the cheesiest man alive. Man, how good it feels to say fiancé.

He finds the next flower by his slippers, and he has to chuckle. Of course, he knows about this one, Cas has a few planted in the garden so the hummingbirds can come by and feed themselves. He has a great attachment to them since he, well, pretty much created them.

_Honeysuckle:_

_Devoted affection. Pure happiness. Bonds of love._

_(Why don’t you bring me a sweater? I’m in the kitchen.)_

He already knows the meaning, but reading it from Cas’s handwriting is just different. He follows Cas’s instructions and goes to the closet, another flower falling from it as he opens the doors. It’s a branch of white, small flowers. Next to it is a slightly bigger yellow flower.

_Acacia (white):_

_Secret love. Friendship._

_Jonquil:_

_Love me. Return my affection. Desire._

Dean stops dead on his tracks. He’s connecting the dots, which reminds him of the meme Claire always sends over at the family group and he just has to chuckle. He grabs the jacket and walks quickly to the kitchen.

He honestly won’t ever mind everyone remembering him crying in the future. Just as he bursts through the door, he is hit with the familiar scent of waffles, eggs bacon, birthday cake, and pie.

“Happy birthday!” everyone is there, absolutely everyone, even Michael. Wait, not everyone. There’s no Cas. Everyone makes their way to hug him and congratulate him, with Eileen, Sam, and Jack at the end.

“Dad said that you should put me down and then turn around,” Jack says, smiling, after kissing Dean on the cheek. Dean quickly sets his son down and turns around, finding Cas standing there, wearing his favorite outfit —not that he ever shut about it ever since he wore it on Christmas day—, his hands filled with blue roses and the flowers he collected before.

Cas gives him another card. Dean takes it and tries to kiss him, but Cas shakes his head and motions for him to read the card.

_Rose (blue):_

_Love at first sight. Longing. Attaining the impossible._

_(There’s just eleven, I hope you noticed. This isn’t over.)_

Dean snorts and accepts the full bouquet, bringing Cas in for a passionate and sweet kiss, his tears falling down, his heart about to burst with happiness and love.

They have breakfast together and then move to the projection room to watch a few movies, Tombstone included, which had Meg not entirely happy.

The day goes by fast between food, more hugs, and gifts. Jack and Claire give themselves the task of distracting Dean upstairs until the party is set.

Once this happens, they guide Dean downstairs and then to the living room, where everyone greets him again with more hugs and silly birthday hats. Cas also gives him a plastic crown, naming him King of the Bunker.

But this is not important, oh no, it’s not. What’s important is that Dean lost track of Cas a few minutes after they danced together to their song, the incredible _Somewhere Only We Know._ He asks around but no one seems to be able to tell him just where the hell is Cas.

This until Claire shows up with Jack between her arms, the kid fast asleep, another set of flowers taped on his back. Claire giggles when Dean snorts, then excuses herself and Kaia to take Jack to his bedroom and then make their way to their own bedroom. Man, life goes by fast, Claire and Kaia are going to college this year.

Dean analyzes the flowers a little bit more thoroughly this time. One is pink and completely open, big is he must compare it to the others, and the other is a branch filled with leaves and small white flowers.

_Ambrosia:_

_Reciprocated love. Returned feelings._

_Arbutus:_

_Only love. True love._

When Dean finally connects the dots he wants to slap himself in the forehead. How couldn’t he know? How could this fly over his head?

He’s crying at his birthday party, but he doesn’t care. Each flower was carefully placed in order. From hatred and misanthropy to only love and reciprocated feelings? Dean must be blind. All of it was carefully put together to symbolize Cas’s feelings towards Dean. _So including the meaning of Gladiolus wasn’t random at all, man, I’m marrying the most awesome guy._

He reads the card once again and notices the small arrow on one of the corners so he turns it around.

_You know where to find me. The place is where it finished and began._

Dean looks around, no one seems to notice him crying, and if they do, they don’t want to interfere. He walks downstairs, already knowing where he’s going and why he’s going there, he has been avoiding it more than the current plague.

Still, this is Cas, Cas who put together all of this for him and only _him._

He opens the door and finds three more flowers resting next to the wall where Cas was taken by The Empty that day. He crouches down and takes them all, analyzing them carefully, caressing them as if they will break underneath his touch. One is a red tulip, but he has no idea of what the other two are; one is white, small, when compared to the tulip, and the other is a bunch of tiny flowers that look like a cloud.

_Tulip (red):_

_Undying love. Perfect love._

_Queen Anne’s Lace:_

_Haven. Sanctuary. Delicateness._

_Primrose:_

_Eternal love. I can’t live without you._

Dean clears his throat, a lump keeping him from talking, then looks up.

“Cas?” he’s afraid of being alone, of Cas being taken back.

“Hello, Dean.” He turns around quickly, throwing his hands over Cas’s neck and kissing all of his face, ending on his lips. Cas separates them with a soft laugh, his hands resting on Dean’s hips. “I take that as you liking your gift.”

“Thank you, Cas.” He whispers, afraid that if he talks too loud he’ll break the moment.

“I guess you already know what I intended with this little… game, to put it easy.” He chuckles, and he can be damned again if that ain’t the most beautiful sound on Earth. “And I guess you already know that I want to do this properly, so…” Cas lets Dean go, goes down on one knee, and opens a small box. There’s a silver ring with a small diamond on it, nothing fancy, nothing big, just perfect. “Would you make me the luckiest man and former angel in the whole fucking world and marry me?”

Dean opens and closes his mouth like a fish, before laughing softly and taking a hand to his pockets. Cas frowns at the laugh and when Dean goes down on one knee too.

“Do you want to know what I wished for this morning? I wished for you to say yes.” He takes out another small box and opens it, showing a silver ring with an emerald on it. Cas’s eyes turn watery as he takes Dean’s face between his hands and brings him in for a kiss.

They slip their rings on each other’s hands and then they lace them together.

“But seriously, how did you pull this off?” Dean asks, once again wiping away his tears.

“We put several spells around the house, really. And we also won’t be able to use the projection room for a whole week because I might have bribed our kids with it.” Dean laughs wholeheartedly, then places a kiss on Cas’s cheek.

Once again, life is good.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my God, this has to be the cheesiest shit I've ever done. I saw this type of surprise over at Pinterest, which reminded me that I'm alone, and just could picture Cas doing this for Dean. Hope you liked it!


End file.
